As such, she was a propagandistic instrument for the dictatorship. She was a very interesting ship from a naval architecture perspective, as the solution met for her function made her structurally similar to modern cruise ships.
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After Germany started World War II, the Gustloff served as a hospital ship until November 1940. She was then painted in naval grey and became floating barracks at the port of Gdyna, that had been renamed Gotenhafen by the German occupation.
On January the 30th 1945 the ship left her port as part of the last-minute evacuation of the area. In the chaos of the situation the ship, that was recognizable as a military vessel, took thousands of civilian refuge seekers aboard.
Sailing in deep waters with the torpedo boat Löwe as her single escort, a non-operational main radio system and by temperatures of -20°C that had frozen the mechanisms to lower the lifeboats. The exact number of persons who died most certainly exceeds 9.000.
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